Well…it is Wednesday again…and that means another fabulous sketch over at www.twistedsketches.com – the “twist” for this week’s sketch was REMEMBER. Here is one of very few photos of a younger me…my 2nd birthday party to be exact. This photo is one of only 2 (the other with serious water damage) that I can find of this memorable occasion ! 🙂

To see the original sketch for this click HERE! Be sure and come over to www.twistedsketches.com and play along with us! Be sure and up-load a direct link to your layout under the comment section under Twisted Sketch #82 so we can all admire your brilliance!

As the Scraps of Darkness website so eloquently puts it, “ Scraps of Darkness specializes in bringing you monthly kits designed for scrappers who love dark layouts, steampunk, grunge, and other alternative themes. If you like the industrial look, distressed, grunge or “dark” layouts, look no further, because we are the kit club for you. Our kits, along with our talented design team, sketches, tutorials, forums, and gallery will fuel your artistic side !”

To check out this AWESOME kit club, be sure and click on the link or banner!!!

I love making these magnetic, perpetual calendars. I made one for Saylor’s Pre-K teacher and now made one for Saylor’s kindergarten teacher. I try to use as many “recycled” items as I can find.

All of the numbers have been made magnetic so they can be changed around from month to month….. I also made the different “street” months to be changed out, and are kept on the back of the calendar.

You should also notice that there is a 25 on the back…the little present can be changed out for people’s birthdays (in this case the present was used for Christmas) but on subsequent months…the black domino would be used for the “25.”

The little present is a little matchbox that I wrapped up as a present…it can be opened to hide a small gift or birthday/Christmas wishes.

Here are some up-close photos of the numbers made into magnets.

I bought the metal Stop Sign at Hobby Lobby for right around $5 when they have their wall decor 50%. I gridded out the calendar with a ruler and drew the lines with a fine-tip Sharpie black marker. I added some clear stickers…I think they are from Creative imaginations. I used a roll of magnetic strip tape that I purchased at Hobby Lobby to make the magnets. TFL!

The latest sketch is now live over at www.twistedsketches.com. The “twist” for this week’s sketch was “pop-dots” any how or any way that inspires you to create. To view the sketch click HERE. Come on over and join in on this challenge…it’s a great sketch! Be sure and up-load a link to your creation directly under the sketch’s comment section so we can all admire your brilliance!

I decided to use actual Pop-Dots as a design element here. I used them on the swirls…for my flower center and as a border. I’m really happy with the effect and will probably use them again in this manner.

Also, a complete tutorial on making this “quilted” flower will be posted on Keandra Willis’ blog Kreatorville in the near future…I will post an update when that occurs.

Here are my 2 babies hiding under Daddy’s desk in his office, a favorite hiding place when they were younger.

Supplies for this layout include: blue polka-dotted paper from Echo Park; the bright pink paper is from Best Occasions, and the rest is all from the Paper Studio’s Poteeka Souflee. The pop-dots used here were also from the Paper Studio. The butterflies are Wall-Es. Other supplies include: Watermelon ink from CTMH, Tombow Adhesive, Timeless Touches paper piercer, and Janlynn embroidery floss.

Here are some close-up photos:

Don’t forget to sign-up for my blog posts over at the right! Thanx for looking! Wishing all of you the happiest of Holidays!

It is Wednesday again! 🙂 and this week marks the debut of Twisted Sketch #78 over at www.twistedsketches.com ! The twist for this week’s sketch was FRAME, any how or any way that inspires you to create. To view the sketch click HERE. I loved this sketch (but I love them all) and I loved the twist! Here is my interpretation!

Here is a photo taken of me by one of my friends on my wedding day on the way to the Myriad Gardens! Loved that old “gansta” car that we hired! I loved my dress too! and loved this photo because I felt it really captured the shine of the silk.

I did A LOT of “framing” on this…..from the large intricate frame that I cut out of the “Gothic” Creative Imaginations paper, the transparency frame used on/around the photo from Best Creations Inc., the special circle and border punch technique I did (see post on November 27, 2010 for details on how this was done), and the Pink Paislee “Artisan Elements” I used to frame in the photo.

Here are some more up-close detailed photos:

I “fussy-cut” (isn’t that a fab word 🙂 ) the flowers out of this beautiful paper that my mom gave me….I don’t know the manufacturer but I know she scored it at Michaels. If I can find out who makes this gorgeous paper I will up-date this post. Up-date 🙂 Thank you AMY! the paper is Ciao Bella by DCWV.

I used these gorgeous Pink Paislee “Artisan Element” dimensional stickers to frame in the photo, cutting some of them in half.

I pop-dotted the large frame so that it would give the page some dimension. And, like most layouts…I think it looks so much prettier in real life!

Come on over to the www.twistedsketches.com site and join us in this sketch challenge! Be sure and up-load a direct link to your layout under the comment section on the Twisted Sketches site so that everyone can admire your awesomeness 🙂 I cannot wait to see your brilliant creations! TFL!

Don’t forget to sign up to my blog over in the right hand column so that you can receive an e-mail anytime I upload a new project!

Well, waiting for my next Design Team assignment to go live this up-coming Wednesday over at www.twistedsketches.com …I have worked on a layout using the new Basic Grey “Jovial” paper…and I love their new Christmas line.

I literally picked the first photo out of my box of photographs and started scrapping. Luckily, I had this Basic Grey paper ready and waiting…that snow man paper was PERFECT for this photo of Saylor, oh-so-long-ago…he was just 11 months old…and already ALL-OVER the place walking and climbing. This was his Halloween costume!

I used some Red Heart crochet thread to stitch the “SNOWMAN” part of the title…I wanted to give it a “snowy” textured feel. Quick Tip: when stitching/sewing with crochet thread, be sure and make your holes big enough for the thread to easily go through.

Here are some more up-close detailed photos:

I made embellishments for my layout by directly cutting a poinsettia & one of the cute little snowman for the “o” in my “snowman” title right out of the Basic Grey paper….such a handy way to embellish with perfectly co-ordinated colors and details.

Another great thing about Basic Grey is that often their other paper lines will easily go with one another….the intricate borders used at the top and bottom are from Basic Grey’s Oliver collection…it is the laser die-cut “doilie” paper…I simply cut it along the edges for my borders.

Here is a quick and easy tutorial to making a border “punched” edge for your circles!

The Martha Stewart edge punches, “Punch Around the Page”, are super popular right now…and here is another way to use those “corner” punches.

1. Using your corner punch…punch multiple punched corners out of the paper of your choice.

2. Cut the punched shapes out as uniformly as you can…leaving a lttle bit of an edge that will be used to glue down behind the circle.

4. Using your preffered adhesive…apply around the edge of the back of your circle. *I use a plate in the size desired to draw my circle on the back of my selected paper, and then cut it out with scissors.

5. Glue the punched pieces to the back edge of the circle, with the front (in this example, the colored side) showing towards the front of the circle. I slightly overlapped the punched shapes uniformly around the circle.

Here is a photo of the finished circle. I made this for my latest Design Team assignment at www.twistedsketches.com – I will be posting the full layout this up-coming Wednesday, so be sure and check back here or to www.twistedsketches.com for the full reveal!

Just wanted to add a quick note that Anam will be giving some free codes away for the Sketches2Scrapbook app for a few lucky winners that visit the Facebook page over the next week….you can visit the page by clicking HERE! Good Luck!

Well the amazing and talented Anam Stubbington has done it! Sketches2Scrapbook…an amazing I-Phone/I-Pad app for scrapbookers of all levels is now live and available for purchase at the Apple I-tunes store.

Sketches2Scrapbook is a Scrapbooking Sketch application that will allow you to think creatively on the go with over 100 unique sketches and layouts to keep you inspired.

Most Scrapbookers are people with busy lives – always on the go and trying to fit scrapbooking in with everything else. When they do get to scrapbook, they bring their phone with them… to the crops, at the store, to their scrapbooking space.

Sketches2Scrapbook is a totally self-contained system where you can search the sketches for the one that suits the layout you want to make – you can search by style, by number of photos, by embellishments, even by the number of different papers you want to use.

Once you have your sketch selected, you can flip to see a sample layout made by some awesome Scrapbookers from around the world. Each of the beautiful layouts comes with a supply list of all the products they used to create the sample layout.

This App will help you to find the perfect sketch for your photos saving you both time and tote space – no need for magazines and books taking up valuable paper or embellishment space, no need to sit in front of your computer or print our online sketches to take with you. And when you are out at the store, you can use the app to pre-plan your layouts and even use the supplies list to remake the layouts with your own photos.

With 104 sketches, you have enough to make 2 layouts every week for a year plus the 12 free sketches for 1 extra layout each month (the Lite version comes built into the full version as extra sketches) – that’s a lot of inspiration especially with the sample layouts added as they are inspiring in their own right.

Sketches2Scrapbook is a way to give you more time and space to scrapbook by keeping all the sketches you need at your fingertips.

Okay, my fellow scrapbookers…..how amazing is this?!? and for just 4.99 – the cost of a package of Prima flowers, you can have 116 amazing sketches for all your scrapbooking inspiration needs. AND….2 of the layouts on the app were done by none-other-than MYSELf 🙂 So, family…and friends…if you want to see the layouts I personally created from 2 of Anam’s amazing sketches….you are going to have to get the app 🙂

Scrapbooking has become so much more than a hobby! It has become a passion…..food for my soul. I have always loved to create and have gone through different phases of painting, drawing, sewing….Since the births of my son and daughter, it has become increasingly important to me to document my life….my goal is tell the stories (big & small) in photos….on my layouts…..almost like a family recipe….every detail enhances the story for me. I hope these pages will tell my children and generations to come not only about our family today…but also from yesterday.